Germany 2017 – First Leg of the Journey

Four years ago, we were invited by my Hubby’s family to go to a reunion in Tübingen, Germany.  We really enjoyed getting to know the main trunk of the family that stayed in Germany.  (His branch immigrated to the United States in the 1880s.) I have never met such wonderful and welcoming people. We learned so much about his family at the reunion. We couldn’t wait for the next one. When it was decided that the next reunion was going to be in Bremen, I was so excited! I had never been to Northern Germany and I dreamed of seeing the old Hanseatic Towns. I remember seeing photos of these towns in textbooks from my German courses and couldn’t wait to see and photograph them.

First we had to decide where to fly into and how long to stay. We landed on 11 days and finally figured out Hamburg was going to be the place that made the most sense to fly in and out of. From Hamburg we went to Kiel, Lübeck, Lüneburg, Stade, Cuxhaven, Bremen, Bremerhaven, and back to Hamburg. We were going to originally do day trips from Hamburg, but lodging in Hamburg was expensive and we didn’t want to have to go back to Hamburg every night.

The first leg of our journey was from Columbus to Newark. If you sit on the left hand side of the plane, you can see the Manhattan and most importantly for this trip – the Statue of Liberty. It is so meaningful to me to see her from the air when we go to Germany. We know that both of our sides of the family had ancestors come through Ellis Island. For example, I found my Hubby’s Great-Grandmother’s record on the Ellis Island Site. The ship’s name was the Konigin Luise and it left from Bremen. We also found my Great-Grandmother’s record. The ship arrived on was the Havel and it also left from Bremen. This will become interesting later on. I can only imagine the awe of seeing the Statue of Liberty for the first time after being at sea and feeling the wonder of what she represents.

Havel

Konigin Luise

Every time I see this saying it gives me chills:

“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Our ancestors had to be brave people to leave their country, family, friends, language, customs, culture and all that they knew for hopes and dreams in new world.

The second leg of our journey was an overnight flight from Newark to Hamburg. It was a pretty uneventful flight. It was cool watching the sun come up over Ireland/England and seeing the northern coast of the Netherlands and Germany.

 

A Very Unexpected Adventure

This blog has been very quiet for quite sometime. To be honest, I started down a path of a very unexpected adventure and have not felt like posting. I have tried to write this post several times, but it has been really hard to get started and I panic every time I tried. I just got back from my post op appointment with my Gynecological Oncologist and for the first time, it feels right to post about this journey. You see, almost two months ago I received a diagnosis of endometrial cancer. I can tell you the most scary word in any language is the word for cancer.  The second one is chemo.

It all started as a trip to a new fertility doctor. The Hubby and I have been trying to have children on and off for almost 10 years and were hoping that this doctor was going to be able to help us. I was having some other problems too, so the doctor did an exam and did not like what he saw. I had to have a procedure to check things out and take a closer look. (I am keeping the medical stuff limited as I don’t want to get too graphic) Sure enough there was a golf ball sized cancerous tumor hanging out in my uterus. The fertility doctor called me – not his nurse – him. He said “I would have made you come in, but you don’t need to see me right now, the people you need to see are the ones you have not met with. Also, you now have my cell phone number and if you need me call me.” That is such a rarity!!

He referred me to a Gynecological Oncologist and we decided to do a complete hysterectomy. It was a double edge sword. One one hand it took out the evil tumor, but on the other hand took the ability to get pregnant and have biological children away from us. We know there is the adoption route, but we are waiting to cross that bridge.

I went in for the pre op appointment and during that time they found a blood clot in a superficial vein in my leg. Surgery had to be pushed back 9 days. They put me on blood thinners to try to break up the clot. That mixed with a horrible period caused me to be admitted to the hospital a day early for a blood transfusion. They ended up giving me 2 pints of blood before surgery and 2 pints after. I have never felt so horrible in my life! Low hemoglobin is no joke. I almost fainted several times before getting to the hospital.

Surgery was a success. I have been recuperating for the last 4 weeks. I am finally getting my energy back. I am still tuckered out at the end of the day. I did get fussed at by the doctor for trying to do too much too soon, so I have to take it easier this week. I will admit it felt so good to get out and shop, I mean walk;)  Jeans are still hard, as four of the six incisions are right where the waistband hits. That is starting to get better too. But for now jammies are the most comfortable.

We did learn that the cancer had spread to one of my ovaries. Because of this, I will have to do some chemo. My gyn oncologist wants to make sure that if any cancer cells had escaped that they would be dealt with. (I am picturing Astrid from How to Train a Dragon killing the bad cells with a sword) I learned today it will be six sessions every 21 days. I will know in a few days when those appointments start. I have to admit I am really nervous about it, but like any unknown adventure, it is what you don’t know that makes it scary. So, I am scouring Pinterest for tips 🙂

There have been many blessings along the way. Too many to count and I know I will forget something if I try. The Hubby gets Husband of the Year for all that he has done to get me to this point and for putting up with the tears/fear/frustration/loss. Also, it is because  of him that I made the appointment for the new doctor. (I had been putting it off). He is my harbor in this crazy storm!

The support from family, friends, and work has also been amazing. It has been hard for me to share and talk about this journey, but I now know, I can’t do it alone. I have learned that it is ok to accept help from others. It is ok not to have to do it by myself. It is ok to rest. It is ok to take care of myself. It really does take a village to raise an adult child 🙂

I hope to get back to my regular adventure posts soon. I will mix in a bit of my cancer journey too.

Adventure 15 – #27 Visit a new to us museum in Columbus

This weekend the parental units came rolling into town. With them they brough this white cold stuff that we thought we left behind months ago. It seems when ever my parents travel, they take crazy weather with them. It has become a family joke 🙂 Something that I love about my family, is how much fun we have when we are together. In typical family fashion, we laughed and laughed. To kick things off we went to Bucca di Beppo on Friday night for dinner. I love the family style atmosphere. Such a fun place!

Saturday dawned with a dusting of snow. The poor little Robbins were so confused! As were my daffodils. While we were waiting for my Aunt M, we watched Star Wars: Force Awakens. As I mentioned in an earlier post, dad took us to see Return of the Jedi when we were little. It brought back so many memories. It was fun to see this installment of the story with him. (Mom too!) We also binge watched the first few episodes of the Astronaut Wives Club. (Yes, I am obsessed) Oh, the first episode with the Corvettes! Which was a fantastic precursor to our adventure.

We drove down to the Wagner-Hagans Auto Museum. Steve, one of the owners, personally took us through the collection of 20 cars housed in an old school garage. It is a little building just on the east side of German Village. It is a nondescript building that I would have driven past, if we had not been looking for it. It is important to make an appointment to go through. The garage opened and this gorgeous orange 1950s Chevy Nomad was front and center. Oh the white-walled tires. Swoon.

There were also some Edsels, a Thunderbird, and several other cars I can’t remember the name of. My dad would know. I was in love with all the fins, head lights, tail lights, steering wheels, and hood ornaments. Did I mention the white-wheeled tires???

As we ventured towards the back of the building there were some incredible cars from the 1930s. I got a little carried away taking photos of the hood ornaments. There were several Packards. One of these cars is an old-time Limo. All of them would have been fun to take a ride in.

I think the look on my dad’s face deems this part of the adventure a success! My Mom and Aunt M enjoyed it too.

Steve was awesome! I highly enjoyed listening to him and hearing the passion in his voice when talking about his collections. There were so many signs, car memorabilia, and license plates. It was an awesome collection.

Our adventure concluded at the Hofbräuhaus. All I can say is yum! It is one of my favorite places in Columbus to hang out. There is always live music going on, and the food is good. There was a cute older couple dancing to the music. I want to be just like them when we grow up.

I can’t wait for my parents to come back to go on another adventure!

Adventure 14 – #50 Visit a Historic House

Yikes! I am a week behind on writing about my adventures! The good news is that I will write about two adventures this weekend. Stay Tuned!

So last Monday, I took a vacation day from work.  I headed out to Newark to pick up my Aunt M and see what kind of trouble that we could get into. It was a rainy cold day, so being outside was out of the question. After some deliberation, we decided to head out the National Road aka US Route 40 towards Zanesville, Ohio. I had pottery on the brain and Zanesville is called the pottery capital of the world. Of course it was Monday and a bunch sites were closed on Monday. So no Hartstone Pottery. That is ok we had antique stores to conquer! But first, proof that we were in Muskingum County, Ohio. Another Ohio county to cross off the list. Zanesville has a lot of cool architecture, including a Y-shaped bridge that spans the confluence of the Licking and Muskingum rivers. The court-house is no exception to the cool architecture.

I decided to look for Hartstone Potter,  a deviled egg plate and some egg cups. Our first stop was Olde Towne Antique Mall. There are a ton of rooms in this historic building to explore. My favorite part was finding the resident feline, Marbles. She is a gorgeous ginger cat. We stopped next at Forget-Me-Not Shop right across the street. This store was a mix of old and new. The gem of this place was the garden in the back. The spring trees were just starting to flower. If it had been a nicer day, we would have stayed out in the garden longer. It was so peaceful.

We popped in next  to Relics Antique Mall. Then back across the street to Clossman Antiques Market. This store was in an old hardware building, complete with an old freight elevator. It was so cool! I imagine the person who operated it had some big muscles!

After a marathon shopping session we needed some sustenance stat! We headed off towards South Zanesville and came across Eaglesticks Golf Course and Mac’s Sports Grill. I had a yummy hamburger. It was huge! The fries were amazing. Aunt M had a taco salad. It looked really tasty. Once we had some food in our tummies we were able to forge on. We continued to head east on the National Road. We were looking for another antique store. No luck, we could not find it at all. We did end up in New Concord, Ohio. This village maybe little but it has some pretty big sites worth seeing. We first drove through Muskingum University. Home of the Fighting Muskies. Some notable graduates are John Glenn, Annie Glenn, William Rainey Harper and Jungle Jack Hanna. It is such a pretty campus.

We also drove past the William Rainey Harper Cabin. William Rainey Harper graduated from Muskingum College at age 14 and then from Yale at 18 with a Ph.D. He helped to establish the University of Chicago was also served as the first president of the school. Of course the cabin was closed so we couldn’t go through it, but I was able to grab a photo.

The most famous house in the village was the John and Annie Glenn Historic Site. It will open in May, so we were a month early. I would like to go back and visit it. The house is where John Glenn grew up and focuses on life during the Depression and World War II. John served in World War II as a Marine Pilot. He also served in the Korean conflict flying combat missions. After this he was a test pilot and was later chosen by NASA to be one of the 7 to be chosen as a Mercury Astronaut. He was the first American to orbit the earth. He later represented Ohio as a Senator. In 1998, John ventured again into space making him the oldest human to go to space. (If you have not watched/read Astronaut Wives Club, I highly recommend it!)

On the way back to Newark, we hit White Pillars Antique Mall and Zanesville Pottery. I didn’t find my pottery, plate, or egg cup. Well something to look for in another adventure. We also passed the Longaberger Basket Building. It is for sale. It would be a fun building to own.

 

Adventure 13 – #1 Go to a concert of a big name group

When I was in the 4th grade, we were allowed to pick a stringed instrument to learn how to play. I chose the cello. It became my nemesis! When I tried to play it, it sounded like a dying cat. Every time I tried to tune it, the peg slip and would unwind the string. It was not a good choice for me. In 5th grade we were allowed to choose a brass or wind instrument. The clarinet and later the saxophone were much better choices for me.

Fast forward to just a few years ago, I loved the show, Glee. One episode had Naya Rivera and Grant Gustin singing “Smooth Criminal” while two dudes played the cello in the middle of the performers. I was blown away by the end. One of the guys bow was completely frayed. It was amazing.

Later I found out through Facebook, that these two cellists were actually a duo called 2 Cellos.  Luka Šulić and Stjepan Hauser, who make up the 2 Cellos, are from Croatia. They competed against each other many times in music contests growing up. They posted a video on YouTube of “Smooth Criminal” played only on the cello and it became a YouTube sensation. I decided earlier this year if they ever toured to Ohio, I wanted to see them in concert. I went to Ticket Master, and they were coming to Columbus! I did not even hesitate and bought the tickets.

Little did I know at the time the Hubby would be working out of town the night of the concert, so my friend Y. went in his place. Aunt M wnet as well. It was a fun girls night out! The concert was at the Palace Theater in Columbus. It is a really cool ornate theater, complete with chandeliers! Please excuse the images, I only had my cell phone and not my good camera. I am a terrible selfie taker.

These cellists were AMAZING live! They started with a classical piece and then they were off and running with their versions of Cold Play, Sting, Michael Jackson, U2, Nirvana, and ACDC for the cello. They were so charming and funny. You could tell they were huge flirts. Plus, they are both really really good looking. You could tell they were so passionate about what they were playing. It was so fun to watch their expressions as they played. It was also amazing to see their fingers fly over the strings. It was crazy!  We had such an enjoyable evening. They started with a classical piece and ended with a classical piece (Bach’s Air on a G String). It was such a perfect way to end the concert.

I would highly recommend if you can go see them in concert to do so!

This is not my photo, I grabbed this off their Facebook page 🙂 We were somewhere in the lower level left hand side of the theater. The guy in the middle is their drummer.

I will leave you with three of my favorite videos of theirs.

(no Steve Vai was not there )

Adventure 12 – #52 Go underground to a caverns

Where do you go when it is still cold and snowy outside? Underground of course! We had been really spoiled with amazing weather for the last few weeks of winter. But winter wasn’t done with us yet.  As we drove up to West Liberty, Ohio, we drove through a few snow showers. It is still March. Spring starts tomorrow.

Aunt M. picked me up and we headed to Ohio Caverns. The hills start to roll in this part of the state. It looks very unassuming. You would never know that this cool cavern was beneath the hill. It is a cavern because there is not a natural opening. The caverns were discovered in 1897 when a 17 year old farm boy wondered where the water in a sink hole was going. After digging down a few feet, he found the opening. It is crazy to think he was the first person to see this natural wonder.

We headed down 38 steps to the caverns. Our guide had given his first tour in 1960. After he retired his wife suggested coming back to give tours at the cabin to get him out of the house. He was an awesome guide. He told us that a group of farmers dug out the path way so visitors could explore.

We had to be very careful not to touch the walls. It takes 500 to 1,000 years for a cubic inch of the crystal stalactites and stalagmites to grow. The stalactites grow from the ceiling of the cavern and the stalagmites grow from the floor of the cavern. Think: The Stalagmites “might” hit the ceiling. Also stalactites has a “C” for ceiling. Yes, the geology nerd in me was completely geeking out. The oil from our skin could completely disrupt that growth and change their colors. We were told that green was not a natural color of the stalactites and stalagmites. The green is from plant spores and algae that comes in on the visitor’s clothes.

Towards the back of the cavern you can see baby stalactites starting to form. This area of Ohio, was underwater millions of years ago. Water was how these caverns form, and water is how the caverns are changing today. The crystals form by water dripping and evaporating. The color depends on the minerals. White for calcium, and red for iron.

There are several types of stalactites and stalagmites. Columns go from ceiling to floor, drapery look like curtains, straws look like, well straws.

The temperature is always 54 degrees down there. The air and water are more pure than they are at the surface as both pass through the stone which acts a filter. The humidity is also over 90%. My hair was so frizzy when we got done 🙂 At one point our guide turned off the lights. Pitch black. I was never so anxious for the lights to come back on.

It was also interesting to see how the iron formed.

Some of the straw stalactites even seemed to grow back up towards the ceiling. These are called Helicites. They kind of reminded me of spit wads.

There were even some that started out as iron and then had calcium over them.

The coolest stalactite was called the Crystal King. It is over 5 feet long, estimated to weigh over 400 lbs., and be over 250,000 years old. It boggles the mind.

After our tour, we headed to Bellefontaine for lunch. We ate at Don’s Downtown Diner. I had the best burger I have eaten in a long time. We also stopped to get a pic of the Logan County Court House. We can mark Logan County off our list 🙂 It was a very fun day!

Adventure 11 – #44 Go to Malabar Farms

Malabar Farm is an Ohio State Park not too far from Columbus. The Farm was built by Louis Bromfield in 1939. Bromfield was a Pulitzer Prize winning author and conservationist. The farm sits upon about 580 acres in the rolling hills of Richland county. This past weekend the farm was hosting a Maple Syrup Festival. I know what you are thinking, but Susan, you just wrote about maple syrup. I know, I know, but it is yummy and it was a festival. We headed up there to check it out.

To get out to the sugar bush, we were shuttled out in wagons pulled by horses. The horses were huge! I felt so small next to them.

Once at the sugar bush we took a trail back in time with reenactors talking about how syrup was made. The setting was so rustic, it was not hard to get swept back in time. Our first stop was with the Native Americans. They carved out wooden troughs to pour the sap into. Then they took hot coals from the fire to evaporate the water from the sap.

The next stop on the trail was the Pioneers. We learned about how they boiled the sap in kettles over an open fire to make the syrup. We also saw how they carved molds to make maple sugar candy. They gave us samples of maple sugar that they made. Yum!

We then finished the trail with the modern way to produce the sticky yummy syrup. We made our way to the sugar shack, where a ranger showed us how they produced the syrup they sold. It was warm and cozy in the shack. The evaporator they use to make the syrup was heated by wood. We were treated to some samples of syrup. The real stuff is SO much better than the flavored stuff you buy at the store. I really really want pancakes now! Of course, we had to buy a pint.

We then headed to the Pugh Cabin to warm up and get some lunch. They had some Ham and Bean soup with corn bread for sale. It was really good. They also had Maple Syrup Peanut Brittle. It was amazing. We also learned that the Pugh Cabin was in the movie, Shawshank Redemption. There is a drive that you can do to see where the movie was filmed. This may have to go on the Adventure List for next year!

 

10th Adventure – #30 Visit a garden/arboretum we have never been to

I felt like Snow White this morning. The birds were chirping, the sun gently woke me up, and the sky was blue. Some brave flowers were already poking their heads out. The temperature was a balmy 40 degrees. I felt like singing. I could feel Spring creeping around the corner.  As much as I love the snow and Winter, I am really excited for Spring.

We headed out to Newark to pick up Aunt M. Then headed for Dawes Arboretum. Their calendar advertised a Homemade Goods Fair and Maple Syrup Madness. We walked through the Homemade Goods Fair first. The Fair hosted a lot of local artisans. My favorite booth was St Louisville Glass. Wow, beautiful pieces. The Visitors Center also has a Discovery Center. A spotted turtle and a fox snake call the Discovery Center home. There was also a bird watching garden, where two very fat squirrels were chasing the chipmunks around.

 

When I think of Maple Syrup, I think of Vermont. Come to find out (Thank you Ohio Maple Producers Association!), Ohio is one of 12 states that produces Maple Syrup. Ohio ranks either 4th or 5th in terms of amount of production. We walked down the Maple Syrup Path to the Log Cabin. Along the path we learned about different aspects of producing the amber goodness.

They also displayed a lot of maple syrup making artifacts. It was really cool to see.

Before I get all sappy (hee hee, get it??), we finally made it down to the log cabin where they were rendering the maple sap to make the syrup. There was a docent there explaining what they were doing. It was fascinating to see the operation. We learned that it takes between 40-50 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. We also learned that when they tap the tree that it spigot makes a hole in the tree. The tree will grow around the hole, but the next year they have to tap the tree in a different spot. We also got to sample the syrup. It was heavenly. I wish I had some pancakes.

After taking the trail back to the parking lot, we drove around the grounds. It is so beautiful. There were little clues that Spring will be here soon, even though there were some patches of left over snow. We will need to go back when it is warmer and when everything is blooming. Such a fun day!!

 

9th Adventure – #21 Go on an adventure with my nieces and nephew

February is a huge month in our family for birthdays! We travelled to the Fort this weekend to Celebrate with my mom, aka Mimi as her grandchildren call her; my niece, big C; and my other Aunt M.

During the winter months the state of Indiana goes crazy for basketball. My niece, J, and my nephew, A, each had a basketball game Saturday Morning. Their church has an Upwards Basketball program and we went to watch.  It was a lot of fun to watch them play! A’s game was first. He wore lucky number 11. He scored two points! He also hates his picture taken, so I took this time to get as many shots as I could. His team was the Hoosiers. They played the Buckeyes. It hurt my heart to root against the Buckeyes, but it was for the greater good. 😉

J’s game was next. She also wore lucky number 11.  She also wore pink pants, so that made it really easy to keep track of her on the court. Her team was Mercury. Each game has three 5 minute periods, half time, then three more 5 minute periods. All the kids get to play, so that is really cool. They all have colored tags on their shoulders to tell them who they guard on defense. J is a bit of a ham as you can see below. Her facial expressions as she was guarding her opponent was so hilarious.

Between the games we hung out and had hot chocolate. I love hanging with my family. My sister, K, has the best kiddos. Mimi was in her element with Big C and Little C.

After the games we headed back to K’s house and had lunch. Mother Nature surprised us with a 60 degree day and the kids got to play outside.  Then we headed to my parent’s house for a big birthday party! K and the kiddos took the sidewalk chalk and decorated the driveway with birthday wishes for Mimi. Grampa B. (aka the Coach) came out and tossed the football around with us. K and I needed a refresher on how to throw the football. A said “Someone needs to show mom how to throw the ball.” We had a good laugh about that, as she was not doing a bad job before the Coach came out.

Little C asked if we wanted to go look for bears with her, so we headed “down the hill” to the creek. Sadly to report, the only critters we saw were squirrels.

Then we showed the birthday girl our chalk art. Little C grabbed Mimi’s walker and ran around with it. The best line was “Outta my way, I am an old lady.” I don’t think I have laughed so hard in such a long time!

 

All in all we had a great day with the birthday girls!

8th Adventure – #29 Photograph a Garden in Columbus

It was a long week. I caught the bug that was going around the office and felt like death warmed over, or one of those monkeys from Pandemic that spreads germs. Today, I finally felt human again. The cabin fever had set in, I needed to get out. The high today was only going to be like 15, so doing something outside was out of the question. It is also Valentine’s weekend. What is indoors and has flowers? If you guessed the Franklin Park Conservatory, you would be correct. Along with my Valentines, my Aunt M and my Hubby, we headed off. We visited some of Columbus’ treasures along the way.

The conservatory is wonderful. I continued to be amazed with all that Columbus has to offer.  We have gone in the past for the Butterflies and Blooms, but it is too early for that. Instead, we went for the orchids. There were so many different varieties, colors, patterns, and shapes. The orchids were so beautiful! It was really hard to choose just a few to put up on the blog.

According to the Franklin Park Conservatory’s website, FPC was the second botanical gardens in the world to host a Dale Chihuly exhibit. (We went for it, and it was amazing!!) It was such a popular exhibit, that the Friends of the Conservatory were able to purchase most of the pieces from the exhibit and make the glass a permanent collection at the Conservatory. I am so glad that they did, as these are stunning pieces. The vibrant colors and shapes are so much fun to photograph.

Of course the glass and the orchids are not the only parts of the conservatory worth seeing. The Himalayan Mounitan Biome, Rainforest Biome, Desert Biome, Pacific Water Garden, and the Palm room have some remarkable plants. I could have spent a long time in the Gift Store, and spent some serious cash too! I settled instead for snapping a few shots.

By then our tummies were rumbling and we needed food stat. We headed down to the German Village and to Katzinger’s Delicatessen. As many times as we have been down to the German Village, we have never ventured in. This being an adventure, we decided to try it. OMG it was amazing. That is all I can say. Both the Hubby and my Aunt M ordered the Ruben (Corned Beef, Sauerkraut, Swiss Cheese, Russian Dressing on Rye). I ordered the Gene’s Free Lunch (Corned Beef, Roast Beef, Cole Slaw, Russian Dressing, Swiss Cheese, on Pumpernickel). I was told that the Rubens are the best Rubens that the Hubby and My Aunt M ever had. I know this has to be true as they both order Rubens quite a bit. The Gene’s Free Lunch was really really good too. It melted in my mouth. The Hubby and I also ordered the Macaroni Salad. Yum!! I want to go back and try some of the traditional Jewish food next time. The Kugel, Knish, and Latkes sound so interesting. The desserts also looked really good too.

On the way home we stopped by Oakland Park Nursery, to see if they had any bulbs. We were out of luck, but it is fun to wander around and look at the plants and items for sale. We also popped by Carfagna’s Market. I love this market. They have the best meat and the best sales on meat. My shopping basket ended up with some Filet Mignon, Delmonico Steaks, Ground Chuck, and chicken. There will be some good eatin’ at my house!

All in all it was a fun day! We got out of the house, beat the cold, and had some good eats. That is what I would call a successful Adventure.